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Water's Age
Water's Age is an origin myth, explaining how the Children of the First came to the continent of Landfall. According to the myth, Water's Age was a time when Ahzulan sea gods ruled the world and oceans covered the land. Water's Age ended when Izilan mountain gods returned to Landfall, causing sea levels to fall and land to reappear. There is no recorded history before Water's Age, and the end of Water's Age marks the beginning of the Thlossian calendar. Time before Water's Age is called the ante axum period. According to the myth, Ahzulan and Izilan gods once battled for control of Landfall, their conflict mediated by the Aran (gods of the sky). Then, inexplicably, the Aran abruptly left, never to return. This allowed the Ahzulan sea gods to gain the upper hand. After 99 years of continuous rain, the Ahzulan triumphed, and the Izilan mountain gods were expelled from Landfall. This caused sea levels to rise and swallow the land. A kin princess named Atressa foresaw the destruction of her people and made a deal with the Ahzulan. She promised the servitude of all kin, for all time, in exchange for protection from the coming floods. The Ahzulan accepted the deal and created unimaginable sealed vessels and domed underwater cities for kin to live in, in exchange for perpetual servitude. The Ahzulan also added one additional term: kin were banned from reading or writing during this time. This became known as Atressa's Accord. At least 4000 years later, when land returned, the First man-kin begged her Ahzulan masters for emancipation from Atressa's Accord. In response, the Ahzulan created the Green Cradle, allowed man-kin to live there, and released the First and her followers from the conditions of Atressa's Accord -- but only under the terms of a new agreement, called the Covenant. This moment marks the beginning of the Thlossian calendar. The myth of Water's Age is shared by both Thlossian and Tazitan cultures, since they are both Children of the First, although the two societies disagree about the exact date of the Covenant. The Shaolei have a similar myth describing a time when the world was covered in water and kin lived in great domed cities on the ocean floor. They believe one such domed city briefly surfaced, allowing the Shaolei people to escape. The year of this Shaolei escape roughly matches the year of the Covenant. The Shaolei, however, do not believe in Atressa's Accord or the Covenant. The eld-kin have a comparable mythsong, called the tuttuahzula or just tuttuah, which translates to "Age of Water" or "Age of Oceans." Many different and distant cultures roughly agree that something catastrophic happened around the time of Water's Age. The myths and stories all share references to massive flooding and kin being forced to survive many generations in mysterious airtight vessels. This suggests that there may be some truth to the myth of Water's Age -- even though most people of Landfall no longer believe it. The true events are unclear. The symbol comprised of three parallel horizontal wavy lines symbolizes Water's Age. It is the heraldric charge of the Rufelle noble family of Bruhinn.